Record high minimum wage in Venezuela

The Herald reports:

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro carried out one of the greatest currency devaluations in history over the weekend – a 95 per cent plunge that will test the capacity of an already beleaguered population to stomach even more pain.

One likely outcome is that inflation, which already was forecast to reach 1 million per cent this year, will get fresh fuel from the measures.

Prices are currently rising at an annualised rate of 108,000 per cent, according to Bloomberg’s Café con Leche index.

A massive exodus of Venezuelans fleeing the crisis to neighbouring countries will likely increase and with it, tensions and restrictions like the ones seen over the past few days.

The official rate for the currency will go from about 285,000 per dollar to 6 million, a shock that officials tried to partly offset by raising the minimum wage 3500 per cent to the equivalent of just US$30 a month.

A 3500% increase in the minimum wage. So wonderful. This will mean no one in Venezuela will be living in poverty.